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Using reflective journals to improve learning through reflection and conceptual change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Gabriela Pleschová
Gabriela Pleschová*
Affiliation:
Institute of International Relations, University of Economics in Bratislava, Dolnozemská cesta 1, 852 35 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
gabriela.pleschova@euba.sk
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Abstract

This study investigates whether reflective journals can stimulate students to reflect on their learning and ultimately to make a conceptual change in understanding international relations concepts and problems. The article reports on the experience of using journaling in two courses by triangulating data from analysis of student journals, assignments, feedback forms and a teacher’s journal. It details the documented benefits and drawbacks of journal-keeping for student learning, setting it into the framework of the existing literature on reflective learning and conceptual change. The article concludes with recommendations for how to make journals an effective learning tool.

Keywords

AssessmentConceptual changeHigher educationReflective journalReflective learning

Information

Type
Symposium
Information
European Political Science , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2020, pp. 29 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 European Consortium for Political Research

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